91 U S A ( To l l - f r e e ) 1- 877- 381- 2 9 14 E m a i l inf o@the culturalexperience.com Cross Periods be approved by the censors. This evening, subject to availability, you have the chance to attend a show at the world famous Maarinsky theatre, which has hosted many of Russia’s most prominent operas and ballets over the years. Day 4 – The Soviet Era. Writers in the soviet era had to tread lightly around a strict regime and many attracted their fair share of controversy. We start at a museum dedicated to Anna Akhmatova, a 20th century poet who was often under scrutiny by the regime, especially as her masterpiece ‘Requiem’ (1935-40) recounted the Stalinist terror. At the apartment of Mikhail Zoschenko, the author and satirist known for his deadpan style, we will hear of his literary group known as the Serapion Brothers and how he was eventually silenced by his denunciation in the Zhdanov Doctrine. We end the day in the former home of Sergey Kirov, a prominent early Bolshevik and revolutionary. He would become head of the party organisation in Leningrad before his assassination in 1934. His apartment is wonderfully preserved with original 20’s and 30’s furniture and gives an insight into Soviet life at the time. Day 5 – Russian Museum. Housed in the grand former Mikhailovsky Palace, the Russian museum’s collection contains over 400,000 exhibits covering all major periods, schools and trends in the history of Russian art over more than a thousand years. It is also located in one of St Petersburg’s grandest areas surrounded by opulent buildings and regal gardens. This afternoon we catch the high-speed train to Moscow and check in to our hotel for three nights. During any one of our evenings in Moscow you will have the opportunity to take in a show at the Bolshoi theatre, arguably the most renowned Opera and Ballet theatre in the world (ask for details when booking). Day 6 – Art in Moscow. We start at the Pushkin gallery, the largest collection of European art in Moscow and containing one of the finest exhibits of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings in the world, as well as a fine collection of archaeological artefacts from the ancient civilisations. After lunch we explore the Tretyakov Gallery, which is the main depository for Russian art in the country. It houses a fine collection of Russian Icons as well as portraits and landscapes by leading Russian artists of both the 18th and 19th centuries. Day 7 – Literary Moscow. This morning we visit the Tolstoy Museum, home to thousands of artefacts, handwritten works and paintings depicting scenes from his novels. This afternoon we turn our attention to another giant of Russian literature and theatre, Anton Chekov. At his residence we learn of his most famous plays including ‘The Seagull’ and ‘The Cherry Orchard’ which made him a seminal figure in the birth of early modernism. He was alsoamedicaldoctorandwouldpractisehere. Chekov is said to have claimed "Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress." Day 8 – Abrametsevo. Today we drive out to the countryside north of Moscow to Abrametsevo. Owned in the 1840s by a well-connected Muscovite, Sergey Aksakov, his estate at Abramtsevo became known throughout the 19th century as a creative playground of the Russian arts, especially the Slavophile movement. Many well-known artists and writers would stay here and would engage a distinctly Russian artistic identity, one which included a revival of interest in traditional arts and crafts in a move away from Western influences. We return to Moscow, and visit the home of writer Maxim Gorky, a political activist and founder of socialist realism. Transfer to Tula by train and check in to our hotel for two nights. Day 9 – The Writers’ Estates. Today we visit the country estates of two of the country’s most influential writers gaining an insight not only into their work but their personal and private lives as well. Firstly, at Yasnaya Polyana, we immerse ourselves in the life of Leo Tolstoy, author of two of the most read novels in history, ‘War and Peace’, in which Natasha’s Dance actually takes place and ‘Anna Karenina’. This is the estate where Tolstoy was born, spent most of his life, wrote most of his works and also set up 13 schools for the local peasant children. At Spasskoe we explore the world of Ivan Turgenev; writer, poet, playwright and translator. Particularly popular in the west, Turgenev’s most notable works include the collection of short stories ‘A Sportsman's Sketches’, a milestone in Russian realism, and the novel ‘Fathers and Sons’, perhaps his masterpiece. Day 10 – Departure. Return to Moscow for our return flight to London. The Winter Palace Chekov